Open records
NEWS ON OPEN GOVERNMENT ISSUES

Pa. state police ordered to disclose moonlighting

July 15, 2010 |
HARRISBURG (AP) — The Pennsylvania State Police must release most of its records about work that its employees perform while they are off-duty, the state Office of Open Records has ruled. The office concluded in Wednesday's decision that the state police erred in withholding information about employee moonlighting in response to a right-to-know request filed in April by The Associated Press. Read More...

ESU appeals court's open-records ruling

July 14, 2010 |
East Stroudsburg University and its foundation have asked the state's highest court to reverse an appellate court ruling that would force the foundation to turn over records to the Pocono Record. In the latest turn in an ongoing legal battle, ESU and the private ESU Foundation, which raises money for the university, filed an appeal in the Middle District of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, arguing that a unanimous decision of a full panel of judges of the Commonwealth Court in May should not be allowed to stand because it is overbroad and intrusive. Read More...

NCC forum discusses new Right to Know law, open records

April 14, 2010 |
For more than 50 years, Pennsylvania's public agencies could deny residents access to public records without explaining why residents couldn't have access. The state's new Right to Know law, enacted Jan. 1, 2009, puts the burden on agencies to prove why records are exempt.

At a Tuesday night forum at Northampton Community College's Tannersville campus, the public got a better sense of this new law. The forum was sponsored by the Pocono Record and NCC. Read More...

Panel provides insight into Pennsylvania’s Right to Know Law

April 09, 2010 |
Four panelists gave insight on the first year of the Pennsylvania Right to Know Law during a symposium in the HUB Ohio room at 7 p.m. March 31. The event came after Sunshine Week, which celebrated the one-year anniversary of the Right to Know Law, which is a type of Sunshine law, meant to give open access to public documents.
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Opinion: OOR can't order payment of legal fees

April 08, 2010 |
Q: I recently filed an appeal with the Office of Open Records. The agency has asked the Office of Open Records to order me or my newspaper to pay the agency’s legal fees related to the appeal. The agency argues that my request is “frivolous” because I requested the same record under the old law and was denied. Can the Office of Open Records order me to pay the agency’s legal fees resulting from the OOR appeal? Read More...

Office of Open Records rules text messages from Wind Gap police chief's cell phone are public record

March 25, 2010 |
The Pennsylvania Office of Open Records has granted The Express-Times access to the Wind Gap police chief's text messages in a ruling that a government transparency watchdog group called groundbreaking. Read More...

Opinion: Open records still a work in progress

March 18, 2010 |
It’s a pretty good law. But having a good law and having a universally good “open government” attitude across the state are two different things. Pennsylvania’s new “Right to Know Law” took effect Jan. 1, 2009, more than a year ago. Has it been successful? It depends whom you ask and how you measure success when it comes to citizens being able to keep track of what their government is doing.
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Pennsylvanians have better access to their government — but there's room to improve

March 14, 2010 |
It's been more than a year since Pennsylvania enacted its new Right-to-Know law, but experts say it's going to be years before it gets perfected. Case law and trial-and-error still are taking place across the state when citizens ask for — and expect to receive — government records they believe to be accessible to the public. While officials familiar with the law admit there is room to improve it, everyone agrees on one thing — Pennsylvania is more open than it was before the Right-to-Know changes.
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Opinion: Coroner rulings are a matter of public record

March 02, 2010 |
Just over a year old, Pennsylvania's Right to Know Law remains a work in progress. That fact is clearly evident through a court case brought by our colleagues at WGAL-TV. In what should be a clear-cut situation, the television station has been forced to go to the Commonwealth Court in an effort to determine not if a record is public - on that point everyone agrees - but when it should be released.
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Ex-official: Show me the money

March 01, 2010 |
In light of recent accusations about undue political influence in Montgomery County government, a former county official has asked the Board of Elections for details about the commissioners’ campaign finance spending over the past two years. Read More...

Troopers criticized over withholding

February 25, 2010 |
HARRISBURG - A new Pennsylvania State Police policy requires troopers to withhold names and other information about victims and witnesses when they issue citations for certain minor crimes - drawing criticism from open-government advocates and raising concern among judges and defense lawyers. Read More...

Opinion: Clean Streams Act makes DEP records public

February 25, 2010 |
Q: I want to look at applications filed with the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). Can the DEP deny my request? Read More...

Montgomery County requests more time

February 24, 2010 |
Montgomery County has stated it will require another month to provide the county’s professional services contracts and related documents requested earlier this month by The Times Herald. Read More...

Dad seeks to block report in son's death

February 17, 2010 |
A new legal battle could be brewing over a Shippensburg University student's death that already has prompted a court duel over the state's Right to Know Law. Read More...

Court says government must prove need to keep information secret

February 09, 2010 |
A state appeals court's first ruling on the new Right to Know Law upholds the idea that government agencies must prove they have a good reason for withholding information, lawyers and others said yesterday. "It's a strong decision for open government," said Barry Fox, spokesman for the state Office of Open Records. Read More...

Opinion: No blanket exemption for email on personal account

January 28, 2010 |
Q: I requested access to e-mails sent between council members and the mayor of a local agency. The agency denied my request on the basis that the agency does not provide e-mail accounts to council or the mayor, and the e-mails are sent from personal e-mail addresses. Can they do that? Read More...

State revises access policy for court documents

January 27, 2010 |
The prevalence of identity theft is one of the reasons the state has revised its paper record access policy for magisterial district courts. “Personal financial and Social Security information are two key elements of the kind that will not be included in court files for public review,” said Stuart Ditzen, assistant for communications, Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts.
Read More...

Allentown sues Morning Call, reporter, open records office

January 27, 2010 |
Allentown is suing The Morning Call, reporter Jarrett Renshaw and the state Office of Open Records, claiming the agency improperly ruled on Renshaw's request under the year-old Right-to-Know Law for the official e-mails and schedules of Mayor Ed Pawlowski and other administration officials. Read More...

Judge rules to release names as sewer records fight ends after 8 months

January 27, 2010 |
An eight-month fight over the identities of Sharon sewer customers who collectively owe about $1 million in unpaid bills ended Tuesday with a judge agreeing with the state Office of Open Records and ordering the records be released. Read More...

WGAL-TV appeals ruling barring it from information on college student's death

January 26, 2010 |
A midstate TV station is appealing a Cumberland County judge’s ruling barring it from information on a Shippensburg University student’s death. Read More...

Prison board OKs release of inmate photographs

January 26, 2010 |
Mercer County Prison Board on Tuesday ruled that inmate photographs from Mercer County Jail can be released to the press after a Herald request made earlier this month. Read More...

Bucks County appeals state Office of Open Records decision

January 23, 2010 |
Bucks County officials do not believe the record of when two employees – opponents in a county election – entered the courthouse each day should be a matter of public information. Read More...

Beaver Co. Times' open records appeal upheld

January 13, 2010 |
The state Office of Open Records this week upheld an appeal by The Beaver County Times of a fee imposed by the State Employees Retirement System for providing information under Pennsylvania’s open-records law. Read More...

Ruling: County must make prison receipts public

January 13, 2010 |
Lackawanna County must obtain and provide to The Times-Tribune any receipts and invoices related to the cost of medical care at Lackawanna County Prison between November 2004 and November 2009, the state Office of Open Records has ruled. Read More...

Ruling: County must make prison receipts public

January 13, 2010 |
Lackawanna County must obtain and provide to The Times-Tribune any receipts and invoices related to the cost of medical care at Lackawanna County Prison between November 2004 and November 2009, the state Office of Open Records has ruled. Read More...

Allentown fights open records ruling

January 10, 2010 |
Allentown officials are appealing an administrative ruling ordering the city to provide the e-mails and records of daily schedules for Mayor Ed Pawlowski and two Cabinet members to a reporter from The Morning Call. Read More...

Opinion: Agency can't take additional extension

January 07, 2010 |
Q: An agency requested an additional 30 calendar days in which to respond to my Right to Know Law request. On the 30th day, I received a letter stating that the records are public but the agency will take an additional three months to compile and copy them due to staffing limitations. Can the agency extend their time for response like that? Read More...

Open records ruling goes against county

January 03, 2010 |
Ben Vonderheide spends a lot of time at the Lancaster County Courthouse, pursuing fathers' rights and inconveniencing local officials in the process. As such, Vonderheide said, he's been tossed out of many a county office and courtroom. But his ejection from one courtroom this fall prompted him to request copies of the surveillance tapes for his records. The county refused to provide the tapes, saying it would constitute a security breach. The Pennsylvania Office of Open Records disagreed. In a Christmas Eve ruling, appeals officer Lucinda Glinn ordered the county to turn them over to Vonderheide. Read More...